Potato Salad- The Sequel!
by Erica T
Summary: After his previous bout with the dreaded potato salad, Vegeta gets roped into another day stuck with a small child. Now what?


  
  


Disclaimer: DBZ, not mine. I don't even have a dream of owning it.

  
  


Okay everybody. For anyone who has read 'Potato Salad' I have returned with a semi-sequel thingy. Another one of my friends suggested that I write another one to amuse people some more. So here we have, 

  
  
  
  


Potato Salad, Marshmallows and Scooby Snacks?

  
  
  
  


Bulma raced around the house, searching in vain for her missing shoe. 

  
  


"Trunks! We have ten minutes to get to car and to your school. If you've taken my shoe you are going to be in major trouble!" She yelled up the stairs. Suddenly her shoe came flying at her chest from the kitchen. Followed by a severely pissed off Vegeta. She caught the shoe and stuck it on her foot. 

"Trunks! In the car now!"

"Okay Mom. I'm coming."

"Woman! Where are you going!"

"I told you three days ago. I'm a supervising volunteer for Trunks' school field trip to the War Museum."

"So what am I supposed to do for food while you are not here?" He growled.

"Make it yourself." She said, grabbing her purse and kissing his cheek. "See you tonight."

"Woman! Don't you remember what happened the last time!"

"Deal with it! And don't make a mess of my kitchen!" She yelled from the driveway. She jumped into the car and drove away waving frantically. Vegeta stood glowering from his place on the doorstep until he discovered that it was useless to do so any longer. He turned back and walked inside. His glower remained until he reached the new and improved kitchen. He stood and stared at it. Bulma had made a few changes to it since the last time he'd been forced to cook for himself and his offspring. And this time he really had no clue where to find anything. Something padded into the kitchen after him, and attached itself to the back of his leg.

"Daddy? Where's Mama?" A sleepy little voice asked.

Vegeta frowned down at the little girl.

"Not here this morning." He said a little gruffly. 

"But I'm hungry! Mama's s'posed to make brekkie for us!" Bra started crying. Vegeta winced at the sound a little then hurriedly picked the three year old up. 

"Quiet now. I'm making the food today." He put her in her booster seat and started hunting through the cabinets he could open. She was quiet for a few minutes. But only for a few. 

"Daddy, I'm bored!" Bra started kicking her feet against her chair. Vegeta ignored it for a moment, but it soon became intensely annoying.

"Bra! Stop that noise this instant!" He shouted. She stopped, startled. 

"Can I colour?" She asked, quietly when she was sure he wasn't going to yell again. Vegeta rolled his eyes at the ceiling, but hunted down a piece of paper and a crayon for her to use. Perhaps it would keep her busy.

"I don't like that colour." She complained, throwing the red crayon across the table. Vegeta growled. 

"What colour do you want then?" He asked, trying very hard not to explode.

"Blue." She said staring up at him.

"Fine. Blue. Here. Now be quiet so I can get breakfast." He grumbled.

"Okay Daddy!" She chirped. Vegeta went back to deciphering the codes on the cupboard doors. Whatever that woman thought she had been doing when she replaced the kitchen, it wasn't amusing. Fed up, Vegeta punched all the code boxes into mulch and pulled them free from the doors, allowing the doors to swing open. Bra looked up from her blue picture, and grinned at him.

"Mama's gonna be ma-ad." She sang. Vegeta smirked.

"Yes, she is. But she's not here right now. Do you want food or not?" Bra nodded excitedly, this was fun, Daddy was always funny to watch. 

"I want my Doggy cereal!" Bra cheered when she saw the cereal boxes. 

"Your what?" Vegeta asked staring at his daughter in confusion. 

"That!" She cried, pointing at a light blue box in one of the cupboards. Vegeta pulled it out and read the contents. 

"Scooby Snacks Breakfast Cereal?" He read. "What in the world is that? I thought that blasted animal was on your T.V. show." 

"He is. But those are what he eats!" She exclaimed happily. Vegeta shook his head and poured out a bowlful of the stuff for her, got her a spoon and put milk on it. He set it in front of her and she began eating it. 

"You want some Daddy?" She asked holding out the spoon to him. Vegeta shook his head vehemently. He now knew better than to eat his children's cereal. It tended to make him sick. "Oh no. I'll eat my own."

"Okay." 

  
  


After she'd managed to eat the whole box of cereal (she is half saiyan after all) Bra finally decided it was time to get down. 

"Down! Daddy, I want down!" She yelled.

"Where do you get your manners brat? That is no way for Royalty to act." Vegeta grumbled, waiting for her to calm down.

"I want to get down now please Daddy." She said meekly. He picked her up and set her down.

"Better. Go and get dressed."

"Okay! Come choose for me Daddy!" She grabbed a hold of his hand and dragged him to her room, before he could react. 

"Hey! Hold it brat!" Bra ran to her closet and threw open the doors. 

"Which dress Daddy?" She exclaimed.

"Can't you choose?" Vegeta hated picking clothes. Even his own.

"Mama always picks three, and I pick one from ones she picks. But I want you to pick today!" She cried, happy to be bestowing this grand honour to him.

"Alright fine. How about this one?" He pulled out a blue jumper with a white blouse. Bra wrinkled her nose. 

"Mama has to fix that one. It scratches." Vegeta frowned and put it back. He pulled a handful of hangars from her closet and started cycling through them. 

"Very well. This one then." 

"That's still too big." 

"How about this pink frilly one?"

"Mama wanted me to save that for special stuff." 

"Does this one have a special use?" Vegeta asked holding up yet another dress, this one yellow.

"No, it's too small." Vegeta was getting very aggravated. He finally decided that enough was enough. 

"The next thing I hold up, you will wear, understood?" He growled. Bra nodded, still grinning widely. He randomly chose a light blue pantsuit.

"Ooh I like that one! Thank you Daddy!" She took it from him, and he left her room, going downstairs to put dishes into the dishwasher. Bulma had told him not to make a mess, and he was sure that if he made one any larger than what had already transpired , his food for the next while would be barely edible. 

  
  


"Daddy! Can you do my zipper?" Bra called down the stairs. 

"Come down here girl." He shouted back. She scampered down and waited patiently while he did up the side zipper. 

"Thank you!" She yelled, unexpectedly flinging herself at him. He jumped, surprised and somehow managed to swing her up to his shoulder.

"Whee! This is fun Daddy!" She squealed.

'That's nice.' He thought. 'Now, how does one occupy a three year old female?' He decided the best course of action would be to occupy her with something, and then quietly leave the room. No such luck. When he deposited her in the playroom, she clung to his hand and tried dragging him over to her toys. 

"Come play with me Daddy! We can play dollies and have a tea party and..."

"NO! I am not going to play with you I have other things to do!" He shouted. Bra jumped, dropping his hand, and stared at him with huge eyes. 

"But, Daddy?"

"I said no!" Bra stood still for a moment, then decided she didn't like the way her daddy was acting. She screwed her face up into one of the oddest contortions Vegeta had ever seen. That was when he realised what was about to happen.

"WWWHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Vegeta covered his ears, and ran forward to try and get her stop the blasted noise. 

"Quiet brat! I said quiet!"

"WhaaaaaaHHaaaaa! I want t'play with you Daddy!! WHAahhahaaaa!" 

"Okay, okay, I'll do it, just be QUIET!" Vegeta yelled.

"Okay. First we have to dress the dollies. Here, you do Suzy, I'll do the Barbie." Vegeta growled low in his throat, but resigned himself to sitting calmly on the floor, and let Bra hand him various articles of small clothing.

'How on Earth do I get myself into these things.' He thought despairingly. 

  
  


Around lunchtime, Bra got tired of playing her five rousing games of 'Tea Party' in which, much to Vegeta's satisfaction, guerilla warriors from the 'Black Lagoon' would attack at random intervals. He even got to play one of those once. In her new disinterest, he managed to convince her that it was time to eat. 

"Come brat. It is lunchtime."

"Okay, what's for lunch?" She asked cheerily. The kid seemed to have endless amounts of energy. 

"I don't know. Let's go look." He picked her up and carried her back upstairs. 

"Whee!"

Vegeta set her down on her booster chair and started rooting through the cabinets. He eventually found bread. Setting it on the table, he went to wrestle with the new heavy duty refrigerator door that the woman had recently installed. Unless you knew the proper way to open it, opening the thing was like trying to move a planet. She had neglected to tell him how to open it. Unfortunately for him, everything but milk was stored inside. He knew she had done it on purpose to discourage him from midnight raiding. He returned to the table with margarine and peanut butter. Bra looked at him excitedly, then asked him a very odd question.

"Can we have peany-budder and Marshmallow sandwiches?" She asked.

"Peanut butter and what?" Vegeta demanded, spreading margarine on sixteen pieces of bread. 

"Marshmallow. They're fluffy and white, and tasty and Mama lets me have them when I've been a good little girl. They go good with peany-budder." She explained, clapping her hands. 

"It's peanut butter. Not whatever it is that you are pronouncing. If you say it correctly and promise to have a nap after, then we can have these Marsh things." 

"I promise to have a nap." Bra said, holding up a hand.

"And?" Vegeta prompted, continuing with his other task. 

"Peanut Butter." She said, pronouncing the letters the same way Vegeta had. 

"Very good. Where are these fluffy things then?" Vegeta started searching through cupboards again, eventually coming up with a bag of these Marshmallow things. He placed four on each sandwich, and split them up between the two of them. Bra happily ate all four of hers, while Vegeta did wind up making himself another three. These marshmallows were quite good, he decided. They blended interestingly with the peanut butter. He'd have to remember this one. When they had finished, Vegeta picked Bra up, carried her upstairs, and deposited her on her bed.

"Naptime. No noise until I decide you can wake up." He said, leaving the room. Surprisingly, she obeyed. 

  
  


Of course, the peace did only last a few hours. Vegeta was able to get a little training done before he detected movement from her room. 

"Damn. She sleeps less than Trunks ever did. Of course he was always trying to train with me at that age." Vegeta left the Gravity Chamber to face the rest of the day, knowing for sure that if Bra injured herself somehow, Bulma would kill him a million times over for not monitoring her. 

He found her playing with a few toys on her floor. 

"Can I wake up now Daddy?" She asked cheerily. The sugar was starting to settle in, she had energy to spend. 

"Yes, you can wake up now." He said, "I have had enough daily exercise, I think though, that a walk to the park would probably finish it off. How would you like to accompany me?" 

Bra jumped up excitedly. 

"The park! Okay! I'm coming!" She dashed around the room, already buzzing, grabbing socks, shoes and her hat. She hurriedly jammed the things on, with almost super saiyan speed at that, and was standing in front of Vegeta panting a little.

"Can we go now, Daddy?" She chirped. 

"Yes. Come on." Vegeta had no idea what he was getting himself into. 

  
  


Bra had insisted on holding his hand all the way there, and was trying to go faster than he was, so, they did get there in fairly good time. Vegeta had complied with the hand-holding business to keep her from crying again. But he was not going to climb the wretched playground equipment. That he would insist on. Upon reaching the park, he convinced his daughter that they needed to walk a little bit more before she played, and then let her go. She scrabbled all over the so-called monkey bars with great ease, he noticed, they were obviously above her level, even if she didn't know it. Eventually, after continuous "look at me"'s and "watch this Daddy"'s she settled into the sandbox and had started up a conversation with some other small children that she obviously knew from somewhere. Vegeta could hear every word they were saying. 

"Hullo Bra!"

"Hi Natalie, hullo Sean! I'm building a sand castle, wanna help?" She babbled.

"Okay!" 

"Are you here with your Mummy?" Bra asked them.

"Yep. She said we could come for an hour as long as we was good." 

"That's nice. My Mama's gone with my brother on 'school trip' She won' be back 'till later. I'm here with my Daddy." She said proudly.

"I heard about them!" Cried the little boy. "Sally says they're loads of fun."

"I can't wait 'till I can go on one." Said the little girl. 

They continued with their sand creation until another boy came up and knocked it over.

"Hey! Why'd ya do that Matthew!" Bra yelled. "We were building that!" 

"So, the little CapCorp brat thinks she can play." The boy sneered. Vegeta found himself getting very angry. 

"I can play. Don't wreck our castle again." Bra said, sounding very dangerous.

"What are you gonna do? Sick a machine on me?" 

"Nope." Vegeta could tell that she was smiling at this new kid. And he wasn't sure he liked where it was going. Without warning, a bright yellow stream of energy shot from Bra's finger and hit the boy's shoe. He jumped, and ran away yelping. Vegeta was extremely surprised. A few seconds later the boy returned, with a burly man in tow. 

"That's her Dad! She burned my shoe!" He cried.

"See here girl, where do you get off burning little boy's shoes?" He demanded. 

"Me? I didn't do anythin' to him." She answered. By now, Vegeta was almost splitting his sides in laughter. Bra was acting just like Trunks had, and like he had at the same age.

"Nonsense, my boy is not a liar. Now where did someone your age get matches? Have your parents no sense?" The man demanded. Bra jumped up decidedly angry.

"My Mummy and Daddy are the smartest people ever! Don't you dare say bad things about them! Or I'll get my Daddy to turn your house into a fire!" She yelled.

"Well! What a mouth you have!" The man exclaimed. "What you need is a good spanking young lady." He raised a hand, but it was caught before he did anything with it.

"Excuse me. I think, it would be wiser if you punished your own child. Not someone else's. Especially mine." Vegeta spat at him. The man spluttered. 

"Go away, weakling, before I decide not to spare you for insulting my parenting skills." The man took off with his unpleasant boy, and Vegeta grinned. He aimed carefully, and sent a small energy flare at the retreating man's shoe. It lit, and he hopped frantically to stop it. Vegeta chuckled, and scooped Bra up. 

"Let's go now. I think this has been too much excitement. Vegeta strode off, leaving behind several bewildered stares. 

  
  


"How do you know how to do that?" Vegeta asked Bra, after they had taken to the air. He decided to fly home. Bra squealed, delighted.

"Do what?" 

"Use energy. You haven't been trained." 

"Trunks showed me. He said I could use it on bullies at day care." Bra told him grinning. Vegeta smirked. They were more resourceful than he had thought. 

"Will you show me what you can do?" He asked her. She nodded happily.

"Yep! But you have to play with me later." She made him promise. 

  
  


Several hours, and a few shocks later, Vegeta dumped Bra in a bathtub, filled with, at her behest, a lot of smelly bubble-bath. 

"Clean up. And don't drown. I'll make dinner." 

"Are we going to have the Friday Dinner?" She asked him, already rubbing soap on a cloth. 

"What's the 'Friday Dinner'?" Bra thought hard for a moment. 

"It's...Hot doggies, and Mac'n'Cheese, and....oh yeah! Potato Salad!" She exclaimed, proud to be able to remember it all. Vegeta blanched. The last time, he tried to make potato salad...it had been a complete disaster. 

--Flashback--

"This recipe calls for five potatoes. That is inappropriate. You eat five of these things on your own, and I eat double that. We shall just have to multiply the amounts called for. Fetch twenty potatoes for me Trunks." Vegeta said, pulling out a large, still clean pot.

Trunks ran off, and returned a moment later carrying an armful of potatoes.

"Here Papa!" He exclaimed happily. 

"Put them in the pot." Vegeta told him. Trunks obeyed then looked up at his father expectantly. 

Vegeta opened the fridge and rooted through it. He pulled out an egg carton.

"We need a lot of eggs." He said, and proceeded to dump them into a pot. 

"Now what?" Trunks asked.

"We wait for them to boil."

****

Trunks was the first back to the kitchen, and discovered to his dismay, two pots boiling over with water. 

"PAPA!!" He yelled. Vegeta appeared in an instant, cursing a little, but managed to get everything back into control, with only a little bit more mess. 

"Okay boy, get me the 'mayonaise' from the fridge while I cut these things up." Trunks went and got the large jar from it's spot in the fridge and returned to his father. 

"Here Papa." He said handing him the jar. Vegeta took it, then ladled the required amount (multiplied) with the rest of it in a bowl. 

"Pepper." He said, Trunks scampered over to the stove and returned with a pepper shaker. Vegeta sprinkled some of that on.

"ACHOO!" He sneezed after inhaling. 

"Bless you Papa. Can we eat now?" Trunks asked. 

--End Flashback-- 

  
  


"Daddy? Daddy...wakey, wakey Daddy."

"What?"

"You were in lala land Daddy. Can we have Friday Dinner? Puleeezze?" 

"Are you sure you want Potato Salad?" 

"Yes, that's part of dinner!" She said, dumping the cloth in the water, and then putting it on her head, for some odd reason that he couldn't discern. 

"Very well." Vegeta left the bathroom and trekked down to the kitchen, intent on searching for a recipe that he had sworn never to touch again. He first put together the Hot Dogs and Macaroni, things he knew how to do without trouble. It was just this damned potato salad that insisted on being impossible to make. In the end, he wound up getting out two pots anyway, and repeated the same doomed procedure as last time. He put everything in it's proper pot, and decided to watch it. But, a distraction presented itself.

"Daddy? Will you wash my hair for me?" Vegeta grumbled, but trudged back upstairs again.

"Why do you need me to wash your hair for you? Can't you do it?" 

"I can't get all the tough places. Please?" She looked at him with puppy dog eyes. 

"Grrrr."

  
  


By the time Vegeta heard the hissing of water evaporating off heated elements, cracked egg shell bits were flying everywhere, and water was spilling onto any flat surface that would let it flow to it. Vegeta, covered in soap suds from Bra's ticklish thrashing, cursed in several languages and turned off the oven. Then he broke it. Into several pieces, then tossed it into the backyard. 

"You won't get me again you damned human appliance." He muttered under his breath. 

Bra came in a few minutes later in her towel robe and peered out the back door.

"Was it being an evil oven Daddy?" Vegeta started throwing all the ingredients into a bowl growling. He glanced at her.

"An evil oven?"

"Mama calls it that when it doesn't work. It doesn't work a lot." 

"I see." 

"Is dinner ready?"

"Put your sleeping clothes on. It will be done when you are back." 

"Okay. Can we play more later?" 

"Play what?" Vegeta asked, exasperated.

"I dunno. How 'bout Dress Up?" 

  
  


Several hours later, Bulma carefully opened the front door. The house was still standing, that was a good sign. There were no scorch marks anywhere. Also another good sign. Trunks poked his head in after her. 

"Do you think he's still awake?" He whispered.

"After watching your sister all day? I doubt it." Bulma whispered back. "Go to bed. And check to see if she's in her bed." She told him. Trunks went upstairs avoiding all stairs that creaked. Bulma cautioned a peak into the living room. She nearly burst out laughing at the sight. Bra's Dress up box had been emptied onto the floor. There were an assortment of pink, white, red and purple frilly things all over the floor, along with all the tacky play jewellery that the girl owned. Sitting on the couch was the most hilarious sight she had ever seen. Vegeta was wearing everything that had been blue and frilly that had been in the box. There was even stuff in his hair. There was a storybook spread in his lap and a sleeping Bra curled up to his chest. It was funny and adorable at the same time. Without thinking, she produced a camera and snapped the last two pictures on the roll. Then she took Bra from her spot and took her up to bed, removing the gaudy tiara she had on at the same time. She said goodnight to Trunks, and went to clean up the mess. 

"I hope for your sake that those pictures never leave this house." A voice said, startling her. 

"You're awake."

"Indeed."

"Don't worry. I won't show anyone. Not even Bra." Vegeta raised an eyebrow, then began pulling off the stuff that Bra insisted he put on. 

"Never leave me with a three year old brat again." He said, stuffing the stuff in a box. 

"Oh, it can't have been that bad. What did you do."

"I was subjected to the 'Tea Party'. And to this Dress up game."

"I would have thought you would enjoy the guerilla tea party."

"Hm. Very amusing." 

"Is my kitchen still there?"

"Of course. But, I will never, I repeat, NEVER make potato salad EVER again. Is that understood?" Bulma looked at him strangely for a moment, and then remembered the last time he had made that particular salad.

"Sure. Never again." She said. He grunted and yawned. 

"I am retiring now." He let Bulma give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and then headed for the stairs. Bulma snapped the box shut and went to the kitchen. Vegeta stood, smirking, waiting for the scream.

It didn't come. Instead, 

"Umm, Vegeta? Where's my oven?" 

  
  
  
  


-End-

  
  
  
  


AN- Thanks for the suggestion Stacey. Well? How did that one turn out? I thought it was a little cuter than the first one, and still had it's humour. What did you people think? 


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